Book of Beastly Mispronunciations

I’m in middle of reading (or skimming) a book titled The Big Book of Beastly Mispronunciations: The Complete Opinionated Guide For The Careful Speaker. Even though the book shows the proper pronunciation of words, I can’t help but think that who defines what is right and wrong. I think that if society generally accepts something as being correct, then it becomes a standard that is lived by. When I was like 15 I was having a conversation with a buddy of mine, and he said something that really made me think. He asked, “Does it matter how something is pronounced, or the slang that you use, if you understand what the person is saying?” I’ve come to the conclusion that if people understand what you are trying to convey, it doesn’t matter exactly how you convey it. But at the same time, I can’t help but feel that we at least need to try to be able to gauge our language to that where everyone can generally understand what is being said. What this means is that the common mispronunciations becomes the standard, and in turn becomes proper. Sometimes it’s un necessary to go against the current of change.